Staying Warm
by CodeLyoko
Summary: It wasn't often that the newly restored Greeed descended from his nest during the night. However, Ankh did have an advantage by being a bird, it meant he was a personal heater on those cold nights.


Well, this definitely was more of a drabble than anything, so I hope you all enjoy it! I just needed closure of my own after watching the series again.

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Ankh's nest was his private oasis, and it was lined with every pair of scrap fabric or other soft materials that one could find in Cous Coussier. Many times Eiji's shirts and scarves found themselves woven into the mix, walls forming where the red silken sheet once lay. The world traveler knew better than to retrieve them, as the Greeed would have become ruffled over his 'precious nest' being destroyed. If there were three things that he cared for above all others, it was ice candy, his nest, and… Well the last bit he told Eiji that he should already know, never admitting it out loud.

The nights were already getting colder and colder outside, yet Ankh was insistent on keeping the window open, despite Eiji's protests as he settled down to sleep. The bird was curled quite comfortable, one arm draped behind him to provide additional cushioning against a pile of the scarves he had 'stolen'. Eyes were shut, for once his face blank of all emotions. One even could say he was sleeping, even as a cool draft drifted across uncovered skin. Any offered blankets had instead been woven into his nest, preferring, especially now his body no longer was that of a shared human body, to sleep without anything to constrict him. An advantage to being a bird was simple, his own cores kept him warm on cold nights.

Shifting onto his side, his eyes slowly opened, long since hearing Eiji slip into a deep sleep. Ankh was unsure what was keeping him awake. The Greeed peered over the edge of his nest, watching as the human below him on the bed – too low on the floor for his liking – shifted every now and then, shivering. This went on for a few minutes, the bird intently staring at Eiji before he sighed quietly. Maneuvering over his nest and landing lightly on the ground, Ankh walked over to stare out the window. It was cool, comfortable for him, yet then again, he was a bird. He emitted warmth even in the coldest of nights. Movement caught his sharp eyes again, Eiji rolling over to face the wall, blanket twisted around his figure.

"Tch." Ankh muttered, hopping up onto the desk and looking up at the stars. Although it was night, the dim blue of the night, the darkened green of the grass, it was all so crystal clear. His distorted senses were gone; it was far better than when he had possessed that detective. The sweetness of his treasured ice candies were overwhelming, the smell of food being cooked in the kitchen downstairs always drew him down to peek in. His sense of touch was enhanced as well, able to feel the softness of his nest, which was one reason why he hated anyone else coming near it. With these senses, he longed to take to the skies to properly see everything once more when he had been the King of Birds.

Eyes wandering yet again back to Eiji, his thoughts consumed him even further. Although his whole being longed for the sky, the panic he would cause by doing it during the daytime would only result in the idiot and that damn strong woman to lecture him about 'blending in' again and again. He didn't want to 'accidently' be thrown into a wall nor have his wrist nearly broken in two again. Fingers clenched into a fist before they loosened, a small beam of moonlight flickering through the cloudy sky.

His chest felt heavy, a feeling he only could witness when everything around him was still and quiet. It was faint, yet ever-present. Bringing his right hand to his chest, he pressed against his shirt, feeling all nine of his cores resonating deep insider him. It was only four of them that felt so heavy. The three that Eiji had destroyed, and his own Taka medal. Remade and restored using technology that that asshole Kougami had somehow came across, it was something that his idiot, and the others, had stayed quiet about.

Five years, that's what he had been told it took, five long years, but all a blur of indescribable sounds and colors for Ankh. It felt like days, the only thing he really remembered was seeing Eiji through vision that more distorted than before, black and white where images seemed to blur together. As much as he replayed those fuzzy memories, he couldn't make head or tails of it. Dark eyes closed, letting another breeze drift by his face. Reaching out, he opened his eyes right as he shut the window and locked it. He could hear the idiot turn over again now that the source of the cold was more or less dealt with. Slipping off the desk, something hit the floor behind him. Turning, knowing Eiji wouldn't be waking up, he came across a journal that had fallen from underneath some scattered papers.

Picking it up, Ankh tilted it this way and that as he settled onto the floor, wondering what it was and why it had been hidden from site. Normally the desk was organized, but the idiot hadn't wanted to clean it up. Giving into curiosity – since when did Eiji have a journal? Exactly what had happened while he was dead? – the Greeed began to flick through the messy book. It was Eiji's handwriting, that was sure. Scribbled pictures, the most prominent ones being of his Taka medal both broken and whole, had dominated the first few pages before they gave way to pages upon pages of notes. Pausing at one of them, he traced the medal's design on the paper, remembering the feeling of it shattering. It was as if the fire that burned within him, within the medal, simply died. Lightning raced through his being before there was just nothing except him falling through the air, using the last of his determination and energy to wake his idiot up before he died.

Shaking his head, Ankh glanced over at Eiji, watching his chest rise and fall. A few minutes passed before he decided to skim the book, only stopping to read every other page and stare at the pictures. Patience was not something he had at the moment, and… Reading this almost felt like he wouldn't truly get the full picture. He knew it when he saw Eiji reaching out for him one last time that the idiot's emotions would drive him to fix his medal, or at least he had thought. His former last words were to hint at the other to move on with his life, after all, he had gotten what he wanted. But that desperation on fixing his medal, the absolute joy that had radiated from his face when he properly woke up after that fateful day…

Humans and their emotions, emotions he still found to be hard to understand, for the Greeed to suddenly be bombarded with them along with the full power of every sense… Overwhelming wasn't able to properly describe how he felt. It wasn't as if he cared for the girl or her brother, that chatty restaurant owner, the two Births, Eiji… Even as their images flickered through his mind, he could feel what should have been a sneer, but now instead a small half-smile, come unbidden to his lips, shocking even himself. Blinking away his thoughts, and thus missing most of the middle of the book, a few passages had stood out to him along the quick read.

"_Kougami said there are several sources…"_

"_We found a way! An old book in Germany…"_

"… _few days until the Taka medal is fixed."_

"_\- wish me luck. In three hours, I… no, we will have him back."_

The last line was dated the day he was revived, fully revived. Ankh closed the journal and dropped it back where it had been found. If he wanted, he could have read every page of the book, yet… He had found himself hesitant, unwilling to pick it back up and properly go through it. Normally he would have done anything if he had felt like it such as grabbing ice candy whenever he pleased, yet this was different. It told the full story on how his personal medal and the other three were remade, his entire revival, yet… Honestly he barely remembered anything of that day, other than waking up as he lay on the ground, Greeed arm stretched out as if to grab something and colors that assaulted his eyes. Echoes of Kougami yelling 'Happy Birthday' drowned out anything else that could have been said, except for a voice that was close by that whispered his name. The sensation of a hand gripped his and even as he turned towards that familiar voice, the memories became all jumbled. It was only after he had awoken upstairs in his nest that he realized what had happened, that he was alive once more, actually _alive_.

It was still so quiet in the room now that there was no breeze nor nightlife noises drifting in. The Greeed made a move to walk over to and jump back into his toasty nest yet he hesitated, much like he had with reading the journal. Out of the corner of his eyes, he could still see that damn idiot shivering with the cold air that had settled in the room. It was either take a blanket out of his nest and possibly disturb the perfect balance of softness in it, or…

Growling and cursing the man underneath his breath, Ankh sat in the bed, shoving the other quite roughly so he rolled over to allow him room on his bed. Lucky for him he didn't wake up at the shove, but still… Settling down, he glared at the blanket the other was currently entangled in, grabbing it to pull over them both. His feathers ruffled at the odd sensation of the blanket covering him, the bird in him despising it, but if it was one of the ways to heat up the idiot…

Humans really had terrible heating and cooling systems didn't they?

Maybe after they woke up, he'll pester Eiji about that journal and finally get some answers. It's been a month already after all. As he drifted off, the warmth of his body being leeched on by the cold idiot, the fact that Chiyoko would end up chancing upon this scene when she goes to wake Eiji up the next morning had completely eluded his mind. Maybe he should remember to wake up early the next time this happened.


End file.
